An amazing issue from start to finish. PAD expertly references past issues of Lorna like Uncanny X-Men 430-31 were her parentage via DnA test was revealed to fans after another three way psychic connection. But, a lot was left hanging with that storyline including Lorna finding out that her motherâ€™s plane that went down was magnetized. We find out one of the major background causes of Lornaâ€™s mental instability and we find out a potential reason why Lorna has had so many issues with her powers over the years with one issue she can lift an Island into space with some help and the right before that she has problems picking up silverware. One issue she can fight the X-Men on her own and a few later she canâ€™t fight Sabertooth.

She had an unconscious mental block in place regarding her powers all these years. We also find out why Magneto has been so standoffish about telling Lorna about her past after it was revealed when he could have in 2004 on Genosha or post her return home in Legacy as he had Mastermind mindwipe her of memories of the accident. This storyline also used the same name of the character for Lornaâ€™s mother created by Chris Gage back in 2008 for her House of M history which obviously was a different timeline from this one as her mother died of cancer in that one.

After 44 years of waiting the definitive backstory of Lornaâ€™s history was told and I would give this issue a 10 for how well it did in that regard in so little panel time it had to work with. PAD really did his homework with this story and told one of his best stories over the years and the definitive origins story for an x-character that has been around for 44 years and had her parentage kicked around like a football by different writers.

This storyline makes it extremely difficult for the next set of writers and editors to just come around and retcon the story which is something Lorna fans have a lot of experience with and obviously have long been afraid of. Speaking of that Lornaâ€™s motherâ€™s husband was named Arnold which is a good homage to her creator Arnold Drake. Magneto also says that Susanna was the mother of his children not child leaving it open the possibility for a future writer to say Zaladane was also his child if Marvel decides to bring her back. The potential for future conflict between Lorna and Magneto is now there over her memories being erased, but nothing like the kind of permanent destruction a storyline where Magneto kills her mother out of jealously would have created.

In all I would highly recommend this story to X-Factor fans, Polaris fans, Magneto fans, and comic fans who just want to read a damn good comic and the definitive origins story of a character that has been around since LBJ was President and was the second x-woman to be created by Marvel.

Agreed! This was an excellent issue all around, and shines new light on old character. In a stroke, Peter David has taken (what I think we'd all agree has been) decades of bad writing for this character and made it make sense. And it adds complexity to Lorna, Lorna's relationships with those around her, and to Magneto.